An effective heuristic for adaptive control of job sequences subject to variation in processing times

Variation in sequential task processing times is common in manufacturing systems. This type of disturbance challenges most scheduling methods since they cannot fundamentally change job sequences to adaptively control production performance as jobs enter the system because actual processing times, are not known in advance. Some research literature indicates that simple rules are more suitable than algorithmic scheduling methods for adaptive control. In this work, a ‘state space – average processing time’ (SS-APT) heuristic is proposed and compared to four most commonly used scheduling rules and two well-established heuristics based on Taillard’s benchmarks. It is shown that the adaptive control is made possible under variation in processing times given the flexibility and strong performance of the SS-APT heuristic, especially for work-in-process inventory control.     

Dust particle detection in traffic surveillance video using motion singularity analysis

Dust particle detection in video aims to automatically determine whether the video is degraded by dust particle or not. Dust particles are usually stuck on the camera lends and typically temporally static in the images of a video sequence captured from a dynamic scene. The moving objects in the scene can be occluded by the dusts; consequently, the motion information of moving objects tends to yield singularity. Motivated by this, a dust detection approach is proposed in this paper by exploiting motion singularity analysis in the video. First, the optical model of dust particle is theoretically studied in by simulating optical density of artifacts produced by dust particles. Then, the optical flow is exploited to perform motion singularity analysis for blind dust detection in the video without the need for ground truth dust-free video. More specifically, a singularity model of optical flow is proposed in this paper using the direction of the motion flow field, instead of the amplitude of the motion flow field. The proposed motion singularity model is further incorporated into a temporal voting mechanism to develop an automatic dust particle detection in the video. Experiments are conducted using both artificially-simulated dust-degraded video and real-world dust-degraded video to demonstrate that the proposed approach outperforms conventional approaches to achieve more accurate dust detection.     

Global optimization of multiphase flow networks using spline surrogate models

A general modelling framework for optimization of multiphase flow networks with discrete decision variables is presented. The framework is expressed with the graph and special attention is given to the convexity properties of the mathematical programming formulation that follows. Nonlinear pressure and temperature relations are modelled using multivariate splines, resulting in a mixed-integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) formulation with spline constraints. A global solution method is devised by combining the framework with a spline-compatible MINLP solver, recently presented in the literature. The solver is able to globally solve the nonconvex optimization problems. The new solution method is benchmarked with several local optimization methods on a set of three realistic subsea production optimization cases provided by the oil company BP.     

正压开放式气力输送水泥粉体临界料位 影响因素实验研究*

本文采用相似理论模拟建立了目前工业常用的正压开放式气力输送系统。该系统可以有效监控固体质量流率、固体料位、气力输送及气体流量等参数。在此系统上,以水泥粉体为输送物料,压缩空气为输送动力进行开放式气力输送研究。通过改变输送母管内的输送压力、气体流量、固体质量流率等操作参数得出临界料位的变化规律,进而得出影响临界料位的主要因素,为本类开放式气力输送的临界料位的确定与监控提供指导。     

Multi-objective adaptive large neighborhood search for distributed reentrant permutation flow shop scheduling

Factory management plays an important role in improving the productivity and quality of service in the production process. In particular, the distributed permutation flow shop scheduling problem with multiple factories is considered a priority factor in the factory automation. This study proposes a novel model of the developed distributed scheduling by supplementing the reentrant characteristic into the model of distributed reentrant permutation flow shop (DRPFS) scheduling. This problem is described as a given set of jobs with a number of reentrant layers is processed in the factories, which compromises a set of machines, with the same properties. The aim of the study is to determine the number of factory needs to be used, jobs assignment to certain factory and sequence of job assigned to the factory in order to simultaneously satisfy three objectives of minimizing makespan, total cost and average tardiness. To do this, a novel multi-objective adaptive large neighborhood search (MOALNS) algorithm is developed for finding the near optimal solutions based on the Pareto front. Various destroy and repair operators are presented to balance between intensification and diversification of searching process. The numerical examples of computational experiments are carried out to validate the proposed model. The analytical results on the performance of proposed algorithm are checked and compared with the existing methods to validate the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed potential algorithm in handling the DRPFS problem.     

Modelling of heat flow and interdendritic crack formation in twin-roll strip casting of aluminium alloys

Preliminary mathematical analyses of different interdendritic cracks associated with variation of heat transfer and generation of interdendritic strain in horizontal twin-roll strip casting have been investigated. A 1-D transient finite difference model of heat flow, dendritic solidification and interdendritic thermo-metallurgical strain has been developed. The model contains two cracking criteria to predict qualitatively and quantitatively the tendency of interdendritic crack formation during dendritic solidification of pure aluminium and 6022 aluminium alloy. The model predictions are compared to available analytical methods and previous measurements. This is to verify and calibrate the model where good and reasonable agreements are obtained, respectively. The variations of heat transfer modes during different contact cooling zones and their effects on the generation of interdendritic thermo-metallurgical strain at the surface and central strip locations have been analysed. The model predictions point out that the different contact cooling zones of strip surface and surroundings control the stages of interdendritic crack formation in different mushy regions. The mechanism of interdendritic crack formation in twin-roll strip casting process with previous and present cracking criteria have been explained and discussed. These discussions show the importance of selection of mathematical treatment to predict the stages of interdendritic crack formation.     

利用测井资料分析计算东海平湖油气田地应力

利用测井资料研究平湖油气田的地应力,对平湖油气田低渗透储层压裂、钻井和开发都有重要意义。文中利用密度、自然伽马、交叉偶极横波测井等资料,对平湖油气田地层的岩石力学参数(泊松比、弹性模量、体积模量、剪切模量、抗压强度、抗剪强度和抗张强度)进行了计算;为确定地层压力和构造应力系数,借鉴前人的研究成果,分别应用黄氏和葛氏地应力计算模型,建立平湖油气田地应力计算方法,并通过岩心差应变法地应力实验验证了该方法的准确性;采用基于XMAC-Ⅱ快横波方位法确定的平湖油气田的地应力方向,与岩心波速各向异性法及黏滞剩磁法地应力实验确定的地应力方向吻合较好。     

浅谈避免合成气压缩机组喘振的对策措施

合成压缩机在运行的过程中,当流量低于一定值时,气体的排出量和机身会出现剧烈的振荡,这种现象叫做压缩机的"喘振"。由喘振引起的机身振动和现场巨大的噪音严重影响了整个系统的安全稳定和高负荷运行。本文从合成气压缩机工作原理及喘振实例,分析了合成气压缩机喘振的原因、消除办法及预防对策。